In the manufacture of metal strips having transversely extending corrugations along the length thereof, it is common to feed the stock from a coil between forming rolls to form the corrugations. Typical apparatus for use in such manufacture is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,998,600, 4,067,219, 4,262,568 and 4,507,948.
Among the objectives of the present invention are to provide an apparatus which will produce metal strips having high productivity; wherein the apparatus can be quickly changed to produce multiple strips simultaneously; wherein the apparatus can be quickly changed to produce strips of different widths; which can utilize a web from a coil of greater width that is slitted to form plural strips simultaneously.
Among the further objectives of the present invention are to provide a forming or fin generating station which has greater length of service and thereby increases productivity without adversely affecting the quality of the product; which has packing roll stations, each of which is independently adjustable during operation; which has improved control of concentricity of the rolls; wherein the packing roll stations may be independently adjusted with respect to prior stations for changing the pitch or distance between corrugations during operation; wherein the rolls can be easily removed and replaced thereby minimizing downtime; and wherein a further station is intermittently driven to control the number of fin convolutions per inch; and which has a cut-off station which is movable selectively transversely of the apparatus to sever a length of fins.
In accordance with the invention, the corrugating web forming apparatus for receiving selectively a plurality of webs of flat material and slitting one of said webs to form two strips which are thereafter shaped to form corrugations and severed to form shaped portions having predetermined lengths and predetermined spacing between the corrugations comprises a slitting station including at least two sets of slitting rolls adapted to be used selectively for slitting a respective web, a forming station including at least two sets of forming rolls for transversely corrugating two strips severed from a web simultaneously, a plurality of longitudinally roll pack stations comprising at least two sets of forming rolls for controlling the longitudinal spacing between the corrugations on the strips, a web control station including at least two sets of rolls for engaging and intermittently interrupting the movement of the corrugated strips, and a cutting station for cutting predetermined lengths from said corrugated strips. Provision is made for adjusting the orientation of the rolls of one packing station relative to another to adjust the pitch or distance between corrugations. Provision is also made for selectively driving one set of the forming rolls for each strip without driving the other set of forming rolls. Provision is also made for selectively moving the cut off mechanism to one or the other of the sets of strips.